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Sunday, December 2, 2007

Lashon Harah, Nibul peh and various sins of the tongue take a modern tack

Online bullying a growing part of US teen Internet life by Glenn Chapman 2 hours, 4 minutes ago

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - US researchers warn that bullies are taking their hurtful ways from real-world schoolyards to the "cyber" world by targeting teens with nasty e-mail, text messaging, and online chat.

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The number of children ages 10 to 17 that say they were abused by "cyber bullies" climbed 50 percent, from six percent in 2000 to nine percent in 2005, according to a new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"One thing that stands out is that aggression perpetuated with technology goes far beyond cyber bullying," said Corrine Ferdon, one of the authors of the CDC report on "electronic aggression and youth violence."

"Technology is constantly evolving and if we focus on the Internet we will miss the show."

Instant messaging, including text messages sent to mobile telephones, is the most common way to send taunts, teases, threats, insults or other bullying messages, according to report co-author Marci Hertz.